Visual Evidence: Political Cartoons on Abolitionism
This activity corresponds to the "Visual Evidence: Political Cartoons on Abolitionism " feature in your textbook. The questions below are designed to help you learn more about the topic. Once you have answered the Comprehension questions, submit your answers and move on to the subsequent questions included in the Analysis and Outside Sources sections. Each section is designed to build upon the one before it, taking you progressively deeper into the subject you are studying. After you have answered all of the questions, you will have the option of emailing your responses to your instructor.
Introduction
As you know, the British abolition debates and late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries emerged from a long history of British involvement in the slave trade. In the second half of the seventeenth century, British merchants began to participate in the trade for profit, and around the turn of the eighteenth century, owning one or more slaves became fashionable among Britain's prosperous classes, a sign of social distinction. Later in the eighteenth century, as abolitionists drew attention to the horrors and injustices of slavery, the social distinction of slave ownership faded, even as the economic draw of the slave trade remained powerful. The links and questions below will help you to engage with documents and images from the history of the British slave trade and abolition movement.
Comprehension
1. Who is the subject of the political cartoons in this feature?
2. Who accused the subject of torturing an African girl?
3. What was the result of the subject's trial?
Analysis
1. Read the document at http://slavetrade.parliament.uk/slavetrade/assetviews/documents/breviatofthebilltosettlethetradewithafrica1698.html. (You can use the enlarger provided to make the print legible; the letter that looks like an “f” is actually an old-style lower-case “s.”) What does this document tell you about the economic interest of the British government in the Africa trade, including the expanding slave trade?
2. The two links below take you pages from reports on African agricultural produce. The first is by Thomas Clarkson, the English abolitionist about whom you read. The second is a reply to Clarkson's report by John Hilton. Use the enlarger provided to read part of the text or each. Click on the "context" tab to learn more about the documents.
· http://slavetrade.parliament.uk/slavetrade/assetviews/documents/evidenceofthomasclarksontotheprivycouncilcommitteefortradeandforeignplantationsenquiryintotheslavetrade.html
· http://slavetrade.parliament.uk/slavetrade/assetviews/documents/evidenceofmrjohnhiltonrepresentativeofthefustianmanufacturersofmanchestertotheprivycouncilcommitteefortradeandforeignplantationsenquiryintotheslavetrade.html
Why do you think abolitionists, such as Clarkson, were interested in African agricultural products? What do you think reports such as these contributed to the abolitionist cause?
3. Now examine the political cartoon at http://slavetrade.parliament.uk/slavetrade/assetviews/pictures/antisaccharritescartoon.html. Use the enlarger provided so that you can read the text of the cartoon, as well as examine the image more closely. ("John Bull" is a character who represents the British nation.) Is this cartoon for or against the "antisaccharites"? What evidence leads you to your conclusion?
Outside Sources
1. The abolitionist Thomas Clarkson was responsible for one of the most famous and reproduced images of the interior of a slave ship. At http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art-and-architecture/great-works/clarkson-thomas-et-al-the-british-slave-ship-brookes-1789-744401.html, you can learn more about the history of this image. What prompted Clarkson and his allies to produce the image? By what means does the image convey the horror of the Middle Passage?
2. At http://www.wolverhamptonhistory.org.uk/people/migration/slavery, you can learn how slavery contributed to the town of Wolverhampton, England. Who was George Scipio Africanus? What roles did he play in the town as a slave and a freeman?
3. At http://www.oxhill.org.uk/StLawrenceChurch/SlaveGrave.htm, you can examine the grave of a slave named Myrtilla, located in Oxhill, England. What do the grave and the inscription on the headstone suggest about the relationship between the slave and her English master?